EU Mario Kart Wii in April

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Next Mario Kart iteration roaring into European stores on April 11.

By Matt Wales

Still gushing wet ones over the apparent disappearance of Super Smash Bros. Brawl in Europe? Well, Nintendo fans, join hands and thank the all-seeing benevolence of Iwata: by way of what we can only assume is some kind of stealth peace offering, Mario Kart Wii is literally trundling to European stores from April 11 2008.

Supporting all manner of control set-ups, including stupid plastic wheel, Wii remote, remote and nunchuck or even your trusty GameCube controller, Mario Kart Wii features 16 brand new tracks alongside 16 old favourites. Throw in 10 battle arenas, online racing for up to 12 simultaneous players (or four players offline), new characters and Mii support, plus - heaven help us all - motorbikes, it's looking like the unfortunate missteps of Double Dash may be but a distant memory.

Interestingly, Nintendo is also set to unveil a new Mario Kart Channel displaying rank positions from online races, as well offering the chance to share and download player Ghost Data. That's not all though - it also seems you'll be able to tell which of your friends are deep in the throes of a Mario Kart face-off and set up a room to chat in before racing commences. Plus you can observe current races before hopping in for the next round, should you so choose.